March Exceptional Story: Noises from Upstairs

Accompany a jaded supernatural investigator on his final case. Journey to a remote peninsula and explore a clifftop haunted house. Is this another unscrupulous fake? Or do you need to see things from a different perspective?

Noises from Upstairs is the first story in the Season of Explorations, and was written by Gavin Inglis. In this season you will experience three stories of adventure, mystery and a not inconsiderable amount of peril.

Begin with the Season of Explorations card, available throughout London.

I can't tell if it's shoddy connection on my end or the server acting up, but this one's freezing so much I have to refresh and miss like...a third of the story thus far. Also did the toymake disappear for anyone else? I thought that storylet was meant to hang around until there was a storylet to resolve it

I am finished with the story, which was well-written but seemed really short. Probably because the last one was really, weally long though!The story goes to some really unexpected places, and I am very curious to see where speculation on certain calendar months will take us.

Finished the story. This may be a difficult story to find all four ending texts, for reasons that will become apparent upon reaching the final choice, but we'll see. I thought it was an engaging and well-written story. My thoughts on the story will be below the spoiler.

&quotNoises from Upstairs&quot is one of the more effective uses of Qualities as integrated into the story that I've seen in a while. Hidden qualities during conversations improve the flow by making these actions feel more natural, but displayed quality locks still communicate that progress is occurring. For those with certain knowledge of the lore, one of these qualities helps create subtextual narrative through the Storynexus mechanics - the last time I remember this occurring was in &quotThe Stone Guest&quot, which was one of my favorite stories.

[spoiler]The title is a pun. I appreciate that. There's an excellent moment where the Debunker describes his past experience with sunlight cut with moonlight before entering the house. What makes it excellent is seeing the quality of &quotSilver Sight&quot with the moonlit London art in the house - your characters don't know it yet, but that's when you realize the true meaning of &quotNoises from Upstairs&quot and that the Upstairs is about to enter the story.

The Calendar Council was well-integrated into the story, which is to say that they were almost a non-presence. While I appreciate lore about the Revolutionaries, their mystery is receding. We know the identities of all but four (March, June, September, and October), and even then we know about June's creation and have a reasonable guess for October now that we know the identity of May. March and September are the most unknown, and fittingly, it's the Marchists and the Septemberists that matter most in moonlit London. I'm glad that all we've learned are snippets of information - Marchists are potentially corrupt, while Septemberists &quotposture&quot. Because Gavin Inglis also wrote &quotThe Calendar Code&quot, and because the last known March (John Cassell) died in 1865 in real life (on the Surface), Cassell is almost certainly not this March. We may draw a connection between the purple the Debunker's mother liked with September, since it's very likely she was still a Septemberist in the Neath.[/spoiler]

Lastly, Brinehouse is described as a peninsula, historically &quota major dock ... Not so much trade. Shipbuilding and supply ... several warehouses.&quot We know the Isle of Dogs became Wolfstack Docks, and Greenwich became Watchmaker's Hill and remained Bugsby's Marshes, which would seem to imply that Brinehouse is the displaced remains of Rotherhithe. In Victorian times, Rotherhithe also had shipyards, docks, and warehouses (for timber, notably, which may be referenced in the Pip and Pickle - &quotIts bar is inlaid with rosewoods, relics of long-forgotten sea trade&quot). I'm not so sure about historical parallels for the Pip and Pickle or for the mansion, but there does appear to a preponderance of evidence pointing towards Rotherhithe.

Is it worth it to play Cut with Moonlight before this/in general? It's 20 out of 61 in the survey from reddit, and about 50% of people say it's worth it for the rewards alone, but I've never actually heard anyone talk about it.edited by TeaFiend5 on 2/28/2019

Re: Cut With Moonlight: To me, I think it is worth playing first, but you won't be missing out on anything but some knowledge about sunlight cut with moonlight and what that does. It will be more meaningful, and may color your characters choices at the end, but it is not essential for understanding this story. This is in no way a sequel, any more than Steeped in Honey is a part of he Nemesis Ambition.

My report: I absolutely loved it. I have a soft spot for this sort of ghost story, and the fallen london twists just made it better. Caroline intervened to save a man, and one she just met; I think she is growing as a person.

[spoiler]She is rethinking her...oh addiction is such an ugly word...indulgence of moonlight. But she is rather a hedonist, and reluctant to give up an indulgence.[/spoiler]

But this is absolutely a good story and I sorta was sad when it was over.edited by Lady Karnstein on 3/1/2019

That was really good! I'm always glad to see an Exceptional Story that experiments with structure instead of the usual go to three locations and then finish up. My only problem was that it felt like there were two places where it was just padding for actions, I'd rather have the story come to its natural conclusion than have to do the same action a few more times as in the ending of this even if it does make it a little bit shorter.

I really liked this story up to the very end. The ghost story framing with the little dash of a Fallen London twist where, I'll remind you, you can often find the Dead hanging out at the harbour, was a very engaging framing device, and I enjoyed the build-up and the little clues you could gather in the pub and throughout the house. I have to admit that I found the Debunker's constant referral to particular family affairs of his to be a bit heavy-handed; less foreshadowing, more forebludgeoning. Nevertheless, I found him an engaging character, and I enjoyed the whole investigation and the twist at the end. However, the ending felt very hollow to me. I opted to (insert SPOILER tag here because I can't for the life of me remember how you put the spoiler box in) help the Debunker devour all the moonlight, and it concluded pretty anticlimactically with him getting affected by the overdose, though in ways that weren't particularly clear, I gained a single enigma, and then the story was over. I'm not so much hung up about the material reward, it's just that it felt really rushed and anticlimactic near the end. Maybe I inadvertently picked the worst ending option possible and the other paths would've been more satisfying, but as things are, the story ended on a bit of a flat note.

However, the ending felt very hollow to me. I opted to (insert SPOILER tag here because I can't for the life of me remember how you put the spoiler box in) help the Debunker devour all the moonlight, and it concluded pretty anticlimactically with him getting affected by the overdose, though in ways that weren't particularly clear, I gained a single enigma, and then the story was over. I'm not so much hung up about the material reward, it's just that it felt really rushed and anticlimactic near the end. Maybe I inadvertently picked the worst ending option possible and the other paths would've been more satisfying, but as things are, the story ended on a bit of a flat note.